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The integration of the 83 acquired Mestdagh supermarkets allowed Intermarché to more than double its sales in Belgium. In the French home market, the Musketeers face the even greater challenge of integrating 291 Casino shops in record time.
Growth spurt
French group Les Mousquetaires, which in addition to Intermarché also owns retail chains such as Netto, Bricomarché and Roady, has had another strong year. Sales rose 10 % to 39.9 billion euros, excluding fuel sales. The lion’s share of those revenues came from supermarket chain Intermarché, accounting for 28.8 billion euros (+ 8.8 %). Discount chain Netto brought in 1.6 billion (+ 15.7 %), while the DIY chains realised a total of 3.4 billion.
Belgian sales more than doubled (+ 103 %) to 1.67 billion euros. This growth spurt was not unexpected, as the Musketeers completed the integration of 83 former Carrefour supermarkets it acquired from Mestdagh. 51 integrated stores had found independent franchisers within the six months.
Challenging year
Those shops are doing extremely well, CEO Thierry Cotillard confirms in an interview with LSA. “The acquired shops are starting to make more progress than the historical Intermarchés, because once fully renovated, they are doubling their sales.” The chain now has 161 stores in Belgium, almost all in the French-speaking south.
2024 will be a challenging year for the group, as it is taking over 291 largely loss-making shops and 10,000 employees in France from ailing retailer Casino. The integration will proceed at record speed, with 1 July as the deadline. That acquisition will give the Musketeers market share growth of 1.2 to 1.5 %. Cotillard is confident that sufficient acquirers will be found for the branches. To strengthen its buying power, the retailer is setting up a buying alliance with Auchan and Casino.
